AVONDALE, Ariz. — Danica Patrick went from a historic weekend in the Daytona 500 last Sunday to crashing at Phoenix International Raceway a week later.

Patrick, who finished eighth in the Daytona 500, the highest ever for a female driver, completed only 184 of the scheduled 312 laps as she blew a right-front tire and slammed hard into the wall in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver bounced off the wall and then was collected by David Ragan, shearing off the body panels on the drivers-side door and scattering sheet metal and energy-absorbing foam all over the track. The impact also ripped the hood off Patrick’s car.

“Bummer,” Patrick said. “We’ve got basically a junked car. I’ll be signing a lot of sheet metal, a lot of body work (for souvenirs) after this week.”

Patrick’s teammate Ryan Newman blew two tires earlier in the day, and several teams were melting beads in the tires because of excessive brake heat. Goodyear officials said Patrick also melted a tire bead.

“I obviously blew a right front,” Patrick said. “There was no real warning. … I felt most of the day I was chasing (a tight condition). It was as little bit unexpected.

“I took a hard hit to the right and the left. I’m fine. The cars and the tracks are so safe and as a driver that’s a nice feeling.”

Patrick made history at Daytona, becoming the first female driver to win a pole for a Sprint Cup race and the first female driver to lead a lap in the Daytona 500. Her eighth-place finish also was the best for a female driver in the Daytona 500.

Patrick finished 39th at Phoenix. Starting 40th, she was running between 25th and 35th most of the day.

“I thought we had some good racing going on out there,” Patrick said. “We were making progress with the car, not an awesome day by any means.

“We weren’t tearing it up, I wouldn’t say, but we were steadily making progress, holding our own, over halfway through the race on the lead lap.”

Patrick was just glad to be OK after the race and credited the soft walls in the area that she hit.

“Thank God for SAFER barriers,” Patrick said. “I’m glad I didn’t drive in the days of running without them. … Anytime you have a tire blow, you’re at full speed when it happens.

“You don’t slide much. There’s no way to slow the car down. When they go in head-first, they feel even bigger.”